Everything Is Changing
Because society and culture are changing at a rapid pace, leadership styles must change too. Today, many workplaces employ five generations of employees, each defined by its own set of values, ethics, and other important characteristics. Managing employees and their talents can be a leader’s most important task as well as a test of their effectiveness. It is therefore critical to stay in tune with some of the most important trends in leadership.
What Worked Yesterday May Not Work Today
The economic landscape is ever-evolving and is tied to recruitment, turnover and retention issues. Amenities that were attractive a short time ago may no longer seem alluring to your current workforce. Trends in leadership only 3 to 5 years ago may not be effective in today’s job market. Here are some new trends in leadership that can create good results for you today.
9 Trends in Leadership
1. Continual Learning
Learning to become the best leader isn’t a one-and-done affair. To stay on top of the latest in recruitment, turnover and retention as well as reimbursement, regulations, and delivering high quality care, today’s leader must make continual education and development a top priority. Continual professional development is needed to retain good leadership qualities. Leadership needs to cultivate a “always growing and learning” mindset.
2. Increase One’s Adaptability
Since nothing remains the same in healthcare, it is important to be as flexible and adaptable to change as possible. Embrace moments where change is not occurring, but be prepared for when change arrives. Adaptability will be needed in multiple areas of leadership including working with 4 to 5 generations of employees, trends in recruitment, employee turnover and retention, the needs of residents and their family members, just to name a few.
3. Prepare the Worst
Every good leader will hope for the best but expect the worst and is prepared when times get tough. It’s assumed that no leader today chose his or her career because it would be easy. The economy is a good example to think about. When it’s good, employees may have the upper hand and bounce around among different employers. When the economy takes a downturn, employees need to hold on to their job. While a good leader cannot predict economic shifts, he or she can have a plan for both scenarios.
4. Trust is a Must
The most important quality of leadership is trust, because no one will follow someone they don’t trust. Trust is at the root of any healthy relationship, and leadership relies on genuine trust between employees and management. An effective leader knows how to get their employees to fully buy into their vision and mission. Without trust there is no commitment.
5. Deliver Better and Faster
As a result of our high-tech world, employees expect faster results, especially Millennials and Gen Y. This is a distinct departure from what older employees are used to. Companies may want results quicker as well. Leadership must then act with a great sense of urgency to make things happen accurately, effectively, and quickly.
How does an effective leader deliver better and faster? Mastering the skills of time and talent management as well as the energy of their staff can produce some pretty impressive results.
6. Develop Soft Skills
Another important trend in leadership is to move slightly away from the hard skills required of employees (and one’s self), and focus more on soft skills. Hard skills include technical know-how, experience, and expertise. Soft skills are believed to be as important if not more so and include emotional intelligence, good time management skills, creativity, and adaptability.
7. Talent Management
Talent management is so important, every leader should make it a top priority right now. Talent management involves helping employees develop skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. It also entails shaping employees socially, emotionally, and cognitively. This may seem like a major investment, and it is. But many studies report a strong association between talent management and retention.
8. Managing Multiple Generations
One of the most significant shifts in the workforce is coming soon and it involves the exiting of the Baby Boomers (the largest group of employees in history) and the takeover of the Millennials. Leaders will need to be able to understand them and motivate them. Leaders will also need to know how to train them to become the next generation of managers and supervisors.
9. Team-Based Leadership
Many companies are moving away from the one-person leadership model and are developing leadership teams. Reasons for this change include the rapid change in technology and managing multiple generations. Leadership now and in the distant future may seem too difficult for only one person to handle, but a team may be more successful in leading a technologically savvy and diverse workforce.
Final Thoughts on Leadership Trends
It may be cliché to say that leadership in today’s world isn’t like mom or dad’s style of leadership “back in the day”. Society, culture, and technology have had major impacts on the way leaders operate in the workplace. It is therefore critical to keep one’s finger on the pulse of leadership trends that will position the individual to be the best leader possible.